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What ever you do, don't try to keep up with Ian when he is riding that HP2. Went for a quiet ride looking for Q once and after the first two turns, didn't see him again till he cooled his heals for 15 minutes waiting for us.

Excellent news. Fitting my Mt Sun on the new GS was a minor worry; I have a hard time picturing how they'll sit. The worry is slightly exacerbated by the front strap modifications I made to get a better fit on the '05 GS. Nothing that can't be worked around, though.

I don't mount my Mountain Sun panniers overly tight. The front strap goes behind the coolant hoses and under the Telever. The rear are looped loosely on the frame, behind the rear frame triangulation. Still working to perfect this, as there isn't enough space between frame and bodywork where you'd like to attach the rear straps.

It's quite a reach over the tank with the straps, but you can get the panniers to sit low enough so that the bar ends don't hit it at full lock and the panniers aren't sitting on the jugs.

None of the tank bags appeal to me. So this time around I'm going to give the Wunderlich handlebar bag a try. They say it will fit the wethead. I'll find out. If not then someone will get a good deal.

I don't like any tank bag... but on long trips, a small one is ok. The bars on this bike are the same as on my HP2e, like Renthal Fat Tapers, so that Wunderlich bag (which I have on my HP) will work fine.

Ian

ps => one thing I am seriously considering is to buy a set of clutch and brake reservoirs for the wethead and put them on my HP2 to get rid of those crappy little plastic cups. The new reservoirs are SWEET

Picking this back up...

... now that The GS Giant's Scorebooks are all done and sent.

Packing the bike for Oregon, I find that my Mountain Sun Tank Panniers fit well. They allow enough airflow off the radiators, and don't get too hot. The straps over the tank need to be extended to nearly their full length, same with the strap around the front. I am still working out how the rear straps will work.

Also put a set of Jesse Odyssey Boxes, and they fit well. Here is a size comparo, with the stock bags extended out vs. the Jesses.

The mounts on these boxes are more visible than past approaches, not too objectionable, but given that I only use the boxes when they're needed, the appearance of the bike without the bags is important to me.

Jesse boxes just keep getting better and better, these things are built like Halliburton luggage. But the 13 year-old, 110K mile set I have on my 1150 are not far off, considering how much rough use they've seen.

The stockers hold 68 liters total when in the extended position, the Jesses hold 105 liters, according to both companies' specifications.

Put the bike on my Craftsman motorcycle floor jack so that I could take both wheels off at one time to have tires mounted. Fits very securely, one jack foot supports the bike at the rear of the skid plate, the other is on the centerstand, just behind where it mounts to the frame.

The rear Tourance Next had a pretty evident flat spot at 3,300 miles, the front was still good, but probably not up to criss-crossing the continent. In the rear tire's defense, it did see a lot of straight-line high-speed and the, uh, traction control did kick in every now and then.

I hope you like my article, it comes out next month... and I hope to post some nice pics from the ride home from Salem.

I checked out Anderworks and I keep arriving at this conclusion: small shops are great! I don't really care what they charge as long as they are knowledgable and caring and provide quality service. These various qualities just seem to be getting harder and harder to find in our never ending world of how cheap can I buy it?

I checked out Anderworks and I keep arriving at this conclusion: small shops are great! I don't really care what they charge as long as they are knowledgable and caring and provide quality service. These various qualities just seem to be getting harder and harder to find in our never ending world of how cheap can I buy it?

Boy howdy do you ever have that right.

I rode with Mr. Anderworks through Hells Canyon to the rally in Redmond 2001. Great guy, awesome bike tuner, and his bike won the bike show that year (not that I am into clean GSs, mind you).

It's been a while, I've been riding.

I just heard from friends that the August issue of BMW ON has arrived, so I better pipe up!

My riding since last posting includes:

3-day, 2700 mile ride to Oregon from Atlanta

The Aufderhide Byway

Exploration of Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area

An adventure ride along the western slope of Mt. Hood

The Blue Mountain Byway in Eastern OR

A ride out to Hat Point in Hells Canyon

Riding the Lolo Motorway

... and some putting around in northwest Montana. I am waiting for a new rear tire because with 4,700 miles, the Metzeler Tourance Next I have isn't going to make it back to Atlanta. Tires are hard to find for this bike... thank goodness I have a place to stay for free while I wait for the tire to make its way to me.

Observations

This motorcycle is a highway destroyer... it eats miles and spits them out in its wake. 900 mile days are no big drama, and the cruise control is heaven. I've finally mastered releasing the cruise without a big, unsettling change in speed.

The transmission is breaking in, as expected. There are still more than a couple of notch shifts, but the bike goes into first gear nicely in most instances now. Whatever you do, don't try to put it into first while coasting to a stop. Big grinch, every time. Shifting up from first to second is usually very quiet, and the shift from second to third is improving.

The ESA is great at adjusting to my too-heavy load. I'm carrying about 40 pounds of camera and computer gear in addition to a 4-person tent (the first tent I've ever had that I can stand up in). When loaded, I use the two-up setting. According to the manual, the two-helmet icon means two-up with luggage. I also choose the Hard setting. On pavement the bike handles without wallowing, and can pound down some pretty rough stuff without bottoming. But man, all this weight really restricts your options off-pavement.

The traction control and ABS are excellent off-pavement assists. I was really skeptical about this, and now I am a believer. As one who usually left ABS on when riding my personal bikes off-pavement, I knew that it can be useful when combined with careful, balanced F/R braking. But the ASC/ABS on the wethead is much more effective. You can crank on the gas without worrying about too much wheelspin, and can apply the brakes *hard* on gravel and come to a very short stop.

The kill switch is in a not-so-good place. When riding with a tank bag it is not hard to shut the motor down during a full-lock, hard right turn. I wish they'd left it where it was, on top of the handlebar control switch.

Off-pavement, you really notice the longer swingarm. The rear wheel follows the ground much more evenly than my 1150, with much less fore/aft pitching while riding over large-ish rocks and ledges. I *really* wish I could get a set of knobby tires for this bike for serious off-road testing.

Tires for this bike are currently hard to find. Tires from the manufacturers are really taking their time flowing into the distribution channel. In my article I promised that I'd have a review of the new Metzeler Karoo IIIs, however, they are simply not available yet in sizes that fit this bike.

The Jesse boxes rock! The mounts are very strong, I've only had a couple of low-speed tip-overs, but no tweaking at all. They hold a lot, they haven't leaked, and they are unobtrusive while mounting, dismounting or riding the bike.

The cost of service.

If you prefer having your dealer do your scheduled maintenance, you better sit down.

The *minor* 6k service, which is essentially an oil change and a diagnostics check, cost $250. The dealer I used did change the brake fluid front and rear for an extra $70 (not sure why, as the fluid was reasonably clear and the bike is far less than a year old) and did a check via the diagnostics computer. But no valve check, and therefore, no adjustment at this point.

Honestly, I was shocked. But I guess it is what it is, especially if you'd like that little "Service Due" indicator on the dash to go out.

The oil cost $16 per quart, which is pretty unbelievable, with premium oil for bikes with wet clutches selling for a fraction of that price. The total cost of oil change was $113.

The oil filter was $17, which is high, but tolerable.

The brake fluid change cost $70, and I was charged $4.50 twice for brake fluid (once each for front and rear).

The "BMW Service" was $140, which is what's involved with hooking up the computer.

The only other thing done was to top off the coolant, which made no difference in the temperature that the bike runs at.

I typically do my own oil changes, and the good news is that the filter wrenches and spark plug cap pullers for oil/hex/camheads fit the new bike, so the only thing I'd have to live with is the service light staying on. I don't have a GS911, so I don't know if this will turn off the light.

I try to be very supportive of BMW dealers, and clearly understand that they must make a profit in order to stay in business.

But these kinds of markups on things like oil make me say "c'mon Beemer Boneyard!"

If you prefer having your dealer do your scheduled maintenance, you better sit down.

The oil cost $16 per quart, which is pretty unbelievable, with premium oil for bikes with wet clutches selling for a fraction of that price. The total cost of oil change was $113.

[snip]
I typically do my own oil changes, and the good news is that the filter wrenches and spark plug cap pullers for oil/hex/camheads fit the new bike, so the only thing I'd have to live with is the service light staying on. I don't have a GS911, so I don't know if this will turn off the light.

The current GS-911 does not work with the wethead. A new GS-911 is in the works. I'm waiting impatiently with money in hand for the new device to be released. I'm guessing it will be expensive. It apparently includes built in wi-fi and a simple web server so you can connect to it using any device with a browser... phone, tablet, laptop, whatever. At least it looks that way on a teaser video released by the manufacturer.

Glad you are enjoying and having good luck with the bike Ian. On a side note, I just paid $16.00 per quart for Royal Purple 10w-30 synthetic that I use in a 14 HP Kawasaki pull start engine. I guess that is what it goes for and for what I'm doing- it's worth it.
OM

"I bought a ticket to the circus, I don't know why I was so surprised to see elephants" Norris Church MailerMod Squad
2009 F800GS 1994 TW200

Pull in on the clutch slowly/gently/slightly while rolling on the throttle slowly/gently/slightly. When it doesn't work transparently, it's better than using the brakes or rolling off the throttle.

The only way I can get it perfect every time is to snap in the clutch and then let it out while matching engine revs to road speed. Or, just clicking the cruise off, which loses the speed that you set.